Biochemical and serological profiles of isolates of Plesiomonas shigelloides were assayed using standard procedures in isolates from various clinical samples. Seventy-four isolates, including P. shigelloides type strain, were further characterized by MALDI-TOF MS using 3-methoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid as matrix. Multiple ions in the 3- to 12-kDa mass range were found in the spectra of each strain, from which the "species-identifying" unique biomarker ions were identified. After creating the species-specific patterns, a spectral database was generated for reliable, rapid, reproducible and accurate identification of Plesiomonas strains. The classical strain description (biochemical and serological) was thus complemented with the metabolic (proteomic) characterization.

• MeSH
• Bacteriological Techniques methods   MeSH
• Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections microbiology   MeSH
• Plesiomonas chemistry   classification   immunology   isolation & purification   MeSH
• Serotyping methods   MeSH
• Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization methods   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Plesiomonas shigelloides (a bacterium widely distributed in aquatic ecosystems causing both intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases) shows a host of putative virulence markers, such as hemolysins, cytotoxins, production of exoenzymes associated with pathogenicity, adhesive ability and vacuolation of cell lines in vitro. Technical difficulties in detecting some of these virulence factors together with scantiness of epidemiological information, due to the lack of routine analysis for P. shigelloides as etiological agent of gastroenteritis, lead to sporadic and occasional finding of these bacteria. All this casts doubt on the real virulence potential of P. shigelloides and fuels a debate about assignment of these bacteria to the list of human pathogens. Here we demonstrated the phenotypic diversity and the putative virulence markers by examining serotype biochemical and virulence properties of 60 strains of P. shigelloides isolated from human, animal and environmental samples in different countries, which showed the unpredictable occurrence of the above properties depending on various locations and diverse sources.

• MeSH
• Virulence Factors metabolism   MeSH
• Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections microbiology   veterinary   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Environmental Microbiology * MeSH
• Plesiomonas genetics   isolation & purification   physiology   MeSH
• Serotyping MeSH
• Bacterial Typing Techniques MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Virulence Factors MeSH